In this case, the binging isn't harmful to your health – or at least not too much.

We're talking about binge viewing, the act of consuming entire seasons of a television show in a short period.

What once was confined to holiday marathons scheduled by a few brave broadcasters has become a do-it-yourself phenomenon. It has grown exponentially since the arrival of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon that make huge catalogs of series available to us with a few pushes on the remote.

A recent survey by Harris Interactive found that roughly half of American TV watchers had engaged in binge viewing.

Some shows seem to particularly stimulate this behavior. Netflix reported last fall that 85 percent of its users who watched the 13 episodes of Season 3 of AMC's drama "Breaking Bad" did so in one marathon session.

Summer seems like the perfect time for a weekend – or weeklong – viewing binge, but what to watch?

Here are some recommendations for a great binging experience. The criteria: The shows need to have finished production (no leaving us hanging), they have to have fewer than 100 episodes (even binges need limits), but must importantly, they have to be high-caliber shows.

So, turn on the set, break out the Costco-size barrel of popcorn, put some eyedrops within reach – and enjoy.

"The Larry Sanders Show" (1992-98) – HBO's first big success is also a fantastically funny piece of inside baseball. Garry Shandling is Larry Sanders, host of a late-night talk show and boss to a staff of loonies. 89 episodes

"The Sopranos" (1999-2007) – The groundbreaking drama about an anxiety-ridden mob boss proved that movie-quality drama could thrive on television. 86 episodes

"The Shield" (2002-08) – Police drama set in Los Angeles showed how easily the lines between right and wrong can be blurred. 88 episodes

"The Wire" (2002-08) – Recently named by Entertainment Weekly as the best TV series of all time, "The Wire" examined the intractable issues of urban decay from an empathetic but unsentimental viewpoint. 60 episodes

"Arrested Development" (2003-06; 2013) – The first three seasons of "Arrested Development" add up to the funniest TV series of all time. The new fourth season, available only on Netflix, doesn't quite measure up to the rest, but it is worth watching. 68 episodes

IF YOU WANT ...

FAMLY-ORIENTED

People say they crave family-oriented shows, but when they show up, no one watches them. Here are three excellent failures.

"Friday Night Lights" (2006-11) – DirecTV stepped in and helped extend this series about a small Texas town that lives for its high school football team. 76 episodes

"Freaks and Geeks" (1999-2000) – Judd Apatow's comic drama about high school life in 1980 features a raft of future stars, including James Franco and Seth Rogen. 18 episodes

"My So Called Life" (1994-95) – Claire Danes got her start in this too-good-for-its-time drama playing Angela Chase, a 15-year-old struggling with the issues of looming adulthood. 19 episodes

ADULT HUMOR

You'll need a handy excuse when the kids ask what you are laughing so hard about.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000-11) – Larry David's mostly improvised comedy can be maddeningly uneven, but it can also make you laugh so hard you can't breathe. Maybe there will be a ninth season, HBO says. Yeah, sure. 80 episodes

"Weeds" (2005-12) – Mary-Louise Parker is a young widow struggling to hold on to her family's middle-class existence when she is recruited to sell marijuana, which she turns out to be very good at. This exceeds our 100-episode limit, but the show takes a severe turn for the worse after about Season 3. I recommend stopping there. 102 episodes (37 through Season 3)

THAT DRY BRITISH HUMOR

You may need to watch these twice to truly appreciate them – and to adjust to the accents.

"The Office" (2001-03) – We're talking Ricky Gervais' U.K. version here, a short-lived but highly influential series. It not only spawned the American version but invented the modern "documentary" comedy. 12 episodes

"Clatterford" (2006-08) – You might find this labeled "Jam & Jerusalem," which was its name in Great Britain. Jennifer Saunders of "Absolutely Fabulous" was the brains behind this odd, character-based comedy about the denizens of a rural English town. 16 episodes

"Blackadder" (1983-89) – Rowan Atkinson stars as a member of the Blackadder family through four series that take place in different time periods: the 1480s, the Elizabethan era, the Regency period and World War I. The humor is alternately sly and silly, and it succeeds on both levels. 26 episodes

SCIENCE FICTION

If you haven't seen these, they throw you out of Comic-Con.

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004-09) – Don't make the mistake of watching the absurd 1978 version with Lorne Greene. This remake for Syfy brought an unusual level of sophistication to TV science fiction, focusing on personal and cultural politics – but still with plenty of action and special effects. 74 episodes

"Fringe" (2008-13) – It's a rare network sci-fi series that is allowed to wrap itself up in such a neat package, finishing just when it needed to. Anna Torv and John Noble are great in this show about an FBI unit that investigates strange occurrences. 100 episodes

"Firefly" (2002-03) – To be honest, I am not crazy about this Joss Whedon space opera, but every sci-fi fan I know still pines for a revival, and it's short enough to be worth a gamble. Nathan Fillion of "Castle" stars. 15 episodes

HISTORICAL

Where fiction takes advantage of fact.

"The Tudors" (2007-10) – The turbulent reign of Henry VIII gets a hypermodern retelling that is surprisingly faithful to history. Jonathan Rhys Meyers tears up the scenery as the virile and vindictive king. 38 episodes

"Band of Brothers" (2011) – HBO's long-form miniseries captures the daily lives of the men of a platoon of soldiers in World War II with often unsettling realism. We follow Easy Company for more than a year, from D-Day until the end of the war. 10 episodes

"Rome" (2005-07) – A sprawling story that follows the fate of the Roman Empire in the time of the Caesars. Kevin McKidd ("Grey's Anatomy") stars as a legionnaire whose fortunes are linked to those of Julius and Augustus. 22 episodes

ROMANTIC

TV doesn't really do romantic comedies in the film sense, but these come close.

"Coupling" (2000-04) – This sharp British sitcom is a bit like "Friends," but with even more interbreeding. Avoid the disastrous American version at all costs. 28 episodes

"Cold Feet" (1997-2003) – Comedy-drama from the U.K. focuses on three couples at different stages of their relationships. Again, avoid the disastrous American version. (Are you sensing a pattern?) 32 episodes

"Sports Night" (1998-2000) – Nominally about the making of a sports news show, "Sports Night" was driven by the romantic relationships behind the scenes. 45 episodes

DARK

"Deadwood" (2004-06) – It's hard to pick out the heroes in this Western, as everyone behaves horribly. But it's a gripping and often amusing drama that paints a shockingly frank depiction of the Old West, full of muddy streets, dirty people and even dirtier language. 36 episodes

"Dead Like Me" (2003-04) – A comedy with dramatic elements, it's about a disaffected young woman who is killed by a falling space toilet and required in the afterlife to become a "reaper" – one who assists departing souls at their moment of death. It's not nearly as creepy as that sounds. 29 episodes

"Forbrydelsen" (2007-12) – The Danish series from which "The Killing" is adapted. Befitting its Scandinavian origins, "Forbrydelsen" is even bleaker than the excellent American version. It's also even better. 40 episodes

DOWNRIGHT WEIRD

"Twin Peaks" (1990-91) – David Lynch's creepy, surrealistic mystery had its moment of popularity, but ultimately it just wasn't right for network television. But it's perfect for a long weekend of binging. 30 episodes

"Life on Mars" (2006-07) – Detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) gets into a car accident in 2006 and awakens to find himself in 1973. He tries to cope with life in this strange new world and to figure out how he got there. 16 episodes

"The Prisoner" (1967-68) – A counterculture artifact from the height of the '60s. Patrick McGoohan stars as a secret agent sent to a bizarre penal colony, where he is known only as No. 6. Watch only if you have a high degree of tolerance for the absurd. 17 episodes

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